July 2009 MMA News Archive

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First the opponent, now the weight class?
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin's (25-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) training plans continue to change, and a recently announced UFC 103 main-event bout with Vitor Belfort (16-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will now take place at a catchweight of 195 pounds instead of the originally announced light heavyweight class.

This time it's official. After apparently premature reports over the last day or so that former Cage Rage star Paul Daley had signed with UFC, Daley officially signed with the promotion a short time ago. He will make his UFC debut at UFC 103 against Brian Foster.

Despite perhaps the most advanced negotiations ever between the two parties, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is unlikely to sign Fedor Emelianenko to a UFC deal.
UFC president Dana White today suggested he gave his best effort but that ultimately even offering Emelianenko "the most amazing deal" wasn't enough.

Recap (in my words): He is NOT demanding co-promotion, but has a 3 fight deal with M-1 so for now, he has no choice. He also is not against exclusitivity. Doesn't think he's a great fighter and doesn't care about rankings or legacy.

Following the demise of Affliction Entertainment, Vitor Belfort (16-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has signed with the UFC, replaced Dan Henderson (25-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and will fight Rich Franklin (25-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the main event of UFC 103.

He just doesn’t like doing laundry in public…
“There have been recent reports stating that talk between M-1 Global and the UFC regarding Fedor fighting in the UFC have ended. Like some of the other reports that have surfaced, this is incorrect. It is unfortunate that so much incorrect information has been leaked to the public. It is M-1’s preference not to negotiate in public and we are unsure why people claim that Fedor and M-1 turned down a six fight, $30 million contract to fight in the UFC when no such offer was ever made."

It appears Strikeforce officials aren’t ‘weighting’ around to see if Aug. 15 headliners Gina Carano and ‘Cyborg’ Santos hit the 145-pound mark for their upcoming women’s championship bout as PFC veteran Erin Toughill (10-2-1) has been put on notice as a potential replacement according to MMA Fanhouse.
After a string of injuries and medical maladies have shredded the San Jose fight card, it’s no wonder that Toughill is lurking in the shadows for a possible call up. Joe Riggs, Alistair Overeem and Josh Thomson have all been forced to withdraw from their main card matches and Strikeforce isn’t taking any chances with its main event.

Many in the UFC were uncomfortable even with this, the largest guarantee they have made in their history. Company insiders expressed concerns about Fedor's doughy physique, his inability to speak English, and the difficulty of working with his management team. Still, these insiders say that Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta are absolutely obsessed with getting Fedor in the company.
"They sometimes let their heart control their brain," an insider said. "It's like when they paid too much for PRIDE. It makes them crazy that they don't have this guy in the company."

You can add Mauro Ranallo's name to the growing list of MMA personalities who have agreed to be a part of EA Sports' new mixed martial arts video game. FanHouse has learned that the Strikeforce announcer and Fight Network Radio host will be the voice of the game, which is slated to be released in 2010. No word on who will be joining him in the virtual broadcast booth.

The official announcement of a previously rumored main-card bout and four previously rumored preliminary-card fights has rounded out the full lineup for September's UFC Fight Night 19 event.
The event, headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard, takes place Sept. 16 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., and airs on Spike TV.

M-1 USA Vice President Jerry Millen says M-1 is only asking for what is best for the sport.
"The closest thing to it, you've got a basketball and you're at a basketball court -- and I know this sounds silly, but you go to the basketball court with your basketball," Millen tells FanHouse. "And there's a guy there with a pocketful of money and goes 'Hey man, I'm going to buy your ball and you're going to sit in the bench and watch me play ball with your ball.' To me that's a sell-out."
It's not about the money, Millen says, it's about the growth of the sport.

"If I tell you I'm good, you would probably think I'm boasting. If I tell you I'm no good, you know I'm lying." – Bruce Lee
Steadily climbing the ranks over the last year, top lightweight contender Kenny Florian has stayed as humble as any fighter in the game despite reeling off six wins in a row, and becoming one of the top 155-pound fighters in the world. Still, Florian believes that he had a lot to learn after his win over Joe Stevenson before facing lightweight champion B.J. Penn on Aug. 8 at UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, one of the biggest stars in UFC history, hasn't fought since May 2008, but according to a recent MySpace bulletin from the fighter, "The future of my career will be made [today]."
Ortiz posted the bulletin on Thursday night teasing a big announcement that will be made today.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the UFC has a media call planned today in which company president Dana White promises to "break the latest UFC news."

Two more Affliction cast-offs have found a new home with the UFC, as lightweights Dan "the Upgrade" Lauzon and Rafaello "Tractor" Oliveira have signed with the organization, and will face each other in the Octagon at UFC 103 in Dallas in September. Jason Benfari at FiveKnuckles.com has the report:
A source close to the event has informed FiveKnuckles.com that Dan Lauzon will square off against long time B.J. Penn training partner Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 103 in Dallas, TX. The fight is expected to be announced by Dana White as part of a UFC press conference tomorrow.

M-1 Global is denying a report that Fedor Emelianenko turned down a six-fight $30-million deal this week to join the UFC’s heavyweight ranks.
CBS Radio host Carmichael Dave reported Wednesday that Emelianenko had turned down an agreement that would have paid him $5 million per fight. However, Joost Raimond, CEO for M-1 Global, called the report “completely ludicrous” and said negotiations never even reached the point where the number of fights contracted for Emelianenko was decided.
“I can say that the guaranteed -- and the word ‘guaranteed’ is of great importance here -- the guaranteed offer made by the UFC is less than what Fedor made before,” Raimond said. “The five-million (per fight) is way, way, way out of range. Half of that is even way out of range of what they offered.”
Raimond was not present at the meeting that took place between UFC and M-1 management in Los Angeles earlier this week, but he said he was debriefed shortly afterward. M-1 and UFC officials, including president Dana White, reconvened the next day via teleconference call, where M-1 presented a counteroffer that included co-promotion. No written contact was ever presented.
M-1 President Vadim Finkelstein and Emelianenko were en route to Russia Thursday and could not be reached for comment. UFC officials told Sherdog.com that White is also traveling and their earliest comment would come Friday during a media conference call.
Raimond confirmed that M-1 Global had been presented with the possibility to receive a cut of pay-per-view profits in addition to Emelianenko’s guaranteed pay, but he said no other profit-sharing incentives were presented.
“And there were a number of provisions attached to that offer that made it very much less interesting,” Raimond said.
Many of those provisions involved the branding of M-1 within the UFC organization, according to Raimond.
“We made it clear that Fedor, now and forever is part, even part owner, of M-1 and those two cannot be separated,” Raimond said. “If the rest of M-1 is excluded from any kind of deal, it makes the deal difficult.”
This is from Loretta Hunt... so you take it however you want to.

Owner of three heavyweight belts (EliteXC, Cage Rage and Cage Warriors), Antônio "Bigfoot" Silva is training to return to the Sengoku on September 23, and will have another motivation for the victory. "I have two more fights in Sengoku and, winning this one, that still have no opponent, I should fight for the belt in December. They will create the belt and I will fight for the title", says the American Top Team heavyweight
----I remember mention of this a few months ago...again I say that I would not be happy if they just created a HW belt....they need...correction...MUST do a HW grand prix...and its got to have 16 guys in it...I will sorely dissapointed otherwise